Environment Ministers of BRICS countries will meet later this week in Goa to prioritise actions for cooperation in critical areas, including air and water pollution and climate change.

The Environment Ministers’ meet in Goa is one in a series of meetings being organized by various central government ministries in the run-up to BRICS Heads of States Summit in October 2016 at Goa after India assumed BRICS Presidency this year from Russia. (Reuters)

Environment Ministers of BRICS countries will meet later this week in Goa to prioritise actions for cooperation in critical areas, including air and water pollution and climate change.

The Environment ministers of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) will meet on September 16.

“The meeting is expected to discuss MoU and the Joint Working Group on environment. The BRICS ministers are also expected to discuss thematic areas of mutual interest and prioritise actions for cooperation in critical areas like air and water pollution, liquid and solid waste management, climate change and conservation of biodiversity. This meeting will be preceded by discussions at official level,” an official statement said.

As minister of the host nation, Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave will arrive in Goa tomorrow to participate in the meeting.

The meeting assumes significance after the adoption of landmark global environmental agreements like Addis Ababa Action Agenda on financing for development, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Paris Agreement last year.

During the Paris climate meet last year, more than 190 nations had agreed on setting ambitious goals for capping global warming and funneling trillions of dollars to poor countries facing climate catastrophe.

The pact will come into force after it is ratified by at least 55 countries that account for 55 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

India has, however, made it clear that no decision to ratify the Paris climate change agreement has been taken so far as its domestic processes in this regard were still underway.

The Environment Ministers’ meet in Goa is one in a series of meetings being organized by various central government ministries in the run-up to BRICS Heads of States Summit in October 2016 at Goa after India assumed BRICS Presidency this year from Russia.

Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa comprising BRICS block, together accounts for 41.6 per cent of global population, 29.31 per cent of total world’s territory and about 22 per cent of world’s total GDP.

These nations have rich biodiversity and natural capital and the choices made by the BRICS nations have a global significance, the statement added.